The Pinal County Planning and Zoning Commission has recommended approval of a rezoning and planned area development overlay for the 3,385-acre La Osa Project site near Red Rock.
The recommendation advances a request to rezone 2,393 acres to I-3 Industrial from General Rural. Proposed open space totals 992 acres. The PAD overlay applies 33 stipulations to the total acreage.
La Osa is the largest proposed data center and energy site in the area and received approval of a Comprehensive Plan amendment from the Pinal County Board of Supervisors last year.
The property is situated south of Eloy and lies south of Baumgartner Road and east of Eleven Mile Corner Road in the City of Eloy’s extended planning area.
The Vermaland LCC project is expected to be built out in three primary phases. The northwest phase comprises data centers. Vermaland has offered to dedicate and donate part of the site to the Avra Valley Fire District for a new fire station if the District decides one is necessary.
The central portion’s phase also has data center buildings, as well as a gas-fired power plant, as does the southeast portion’s phase.
The conceptual site plan shows as many as 59 possible data center buildings on more than 2,000 acres, along with the two gas-fired power plants. The buildings are expected to total approximately 400KSF each and have multiple floors, according to representatives.
The 992 open space acres are intended to maintain regional open space connectivity, protect natural and wildlife corridors and help protect drainage flows.
Total construction costs are estimated at $10B or more. Representatives provided estimates of around $100M in annual tax revenues to the County and other districts, which could ultimately help lower tax rates for other businesses and residents.
They also claimed the development could create as many as 100-500 full-time jobs at each data center building and 70 permanent positions at the power plants.
Some Commission members questioned the employment claims, saying the research they had seen indicated an average of five-10 jobs per building. Representatives said different types of data centers yield different employment levels and, while a hard number could not currently be promised, “thousands of jobs” was a reasonable expectation drawn from various metrics.
Commissioners also raised questions about the possibility of workforce housing generation, potential pollution from the closed-loop cooling and water systems, and the development’s power and water use.
Representatives said the project has gotten a will-serve letter from Global Water, and the utility will create a service territory for La Osa. Initial phases will be served by private wells and septic systems until demand justifies a larger water treatment plant.
The developer plans to supply its own power and not rely on the area grid. The power mix will use the gas-fired power plants and a battery energy storage system and may contract with other nearby solar and clean energy sources.
Representatives said the developer is in discussions with natural gas providers to fuel the power plants, but contracts cannot be signed until the zoning is in place.
County staff said they had received 11 letters of support, including one from the Mayor of Eloy and another from the Arizona Commerce Authority, among others. One opposition email was noted.
The requests now move on to the Board of Supervisors. (Source)
